Free Essay About The Bleak Future Of Labor In America

[University/Institutional Affiliation]
In the past decade, jobs in the United States of America are dramatically eaten by technology. It is observable that blue collar jobs are gradually overtaken by machines. Service jobs today require more educational attainment than before. Even the average wage is continuously falling. According to Rampell (2011), students graduating from a four-year college degree are having a median monthly salary of US$27,000 since 2009 to 2010. It dropped from the previous which was US$30,000. Those who cannot afford to finish a college degree are having difficulty in landing into jobs that will guarantee a middle class life. In this situation, young American citizens are compelled to finish college degree and higher studies to be able to compete with the ballooning population of job seekers. It will also mean that young people must have to gamble in accumulating student loans.
In the fast changing economic landscape, it seems that the American citizens are not in pacing forward in equal speed. Many are lagging behind especially in arena of labor. One of the sources of Rampell in his article at The New York Times mentioned that the “less schooling you had, the more likely you are to be thrown out of the labor market,” (Rampell, 2011). Rampell added that the graduates of the class 2006 to 2010 are struggling hard to pay off their student loans. The data shows that the graduates since 2006 are having more difficulty in landing into jobs.
Davidson (2012) in his article entitled “Making it in America” which was featured in The Atlantic online magazine highlighted the case of a South Carolina working woman at the Standard Motor Products. Maddie works in the manufacturing firm as a fuel-injector. She fears that she will also lose her jobs to machines in the near future like what happened to other blue collar jobs. She wants to continue her college degree but being a single mom to two children cannot allow her to. She once envisioned her life fulfilling a typical American dream which is to finish a college degree, land to a good paying job, and live a middle class life style with her family. That dream was flown by the wind when during her senior year in high school, she got knocked up. She still graduated high school but she wasn’t able to enrol into college anymore. In order to feed her children, she joined the blue collar jobs in the work arena dominated by men.
Maggie’s story is just one among the many American labor stories in the age of globalization where almost all jobs require a college degree. Davidson (2012) recalled that since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the opening of China to the world market, textile companies in South Carolina started to close as they cannot compete with the cheaper market value and the bulk of production. As a result, hundreds of textile workers lost their jobs.
In the continuously ballooning number of job seekers, it is not impossible for the basic salary to burst. More and more Americans will grab the meager-salary jobs to tide-over their families. Young professionals are still striving to raise their qualifications in order to meet the requirements of their desired jobs. Davidson (2011) mentioned in her article posted at the Times Higher Education mentioned:
“How much longer will this be the case if graduates need the most basic retraining before they are fit for the workplace?” (Davidson, 2011).
She added that tuition keeps rising almost every year. The students Davidson pointed out are not being trained for the existing jobs. After being plunged into student debts, they end up not fitted to the workplace. If actions to arrest this dilemma will not be in place, then a bleak future will be expected for the future generations of Americans.

References

Rampbell, R. (18 May 2011). “Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling.” The New York Times online. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html
Davidson, A. (2012). “Making it in America.” The Atlantic online magazine. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/01/making-it-in-america/308844/
Times Higher Education. (28 April 2011). “So Last Century.” Times Higher Education website. Retrieved from http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/415941.article
Kessler, A. (17 Feb. 2011). “Is Your Job an Endangered Species?” The Wall Street Journal online. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703439504576116340050218236